Wireless communication systems generally include subscriber units supported by an infrastructure. Subscriber units, such as selective call receivers (i.e. pagers) and radiotelephones, operating in the wireless communication systems are well known in the art and widely used. A person contacts a user of a subscriber unit by calling the subscriber unit's unique phone number. Of course, the user waiting to receive the call has no indication of when a call will be received by the subscriber unit.
Suppose now, for instance, that the subscriber unit has failed. The user waiting to receive a call doesn't know whether the subscriber unit is functioning properly and no calls were initiated or that the subscriber unit has indeed failed. Hours and even days may pass before the user discovers that the subscriber unit has failed. The user may periodically call their own subscriber unit to verify its functionality, but this procedure places the burden on the user to determine when a random failure would occur.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an automatic indication to the user that the subscriber unit has failed such that the user can take the necessary steps to have the subscriber unit repaired or replaced. Thus, the subscriber unit would incur less down time in the communication system and result in greater user satisfaction.